[1024 A.D.]
Duke Conrad, father of the younger Conrad, had had an elder brother named Henry, who possessed a count’s fief in Franconia. This Henry—who was therefore to be considered the chief representative of the authority of that house, and who, had he not died before his father, would have inherited the dukedom—had married Adelheid, a sister of the powerful Alsatian count of the house of Egisheim. The issue of this marriage was Conrad II, to whom accordingly descended by right of inheritance the claims of the Conrad dynasty. The right of succession of the elder Conrad can hardly be questioned. For the prerogative of elder lines must be upheld, if we will do justice to the constant change of families upon the throne.d
After the decease of Henry II, it was evident to every friend of Germany that the unity of the nation must be cemented without delay if all that had been founded by Conrad I and Henry I was not to come wholly to naught. The princes and the higher ranks of nobles would perhaps have been well content to see the empire break up into its old condition of disintegration; the clergy, on the other hand, had nothing to gain by such a turn of fortune, and they consequently laboured with the utmost zeal for the appointment of a capable head to the empire. As matters stood the king could only be nominated by election, and on this occasion the election had to be held with more freedom and more solemnity than usual, because the choice was not limited to the children or descendants of a deceased monarch. In the early days of the vacancy no candidates for the highest office of the state presented themselves, and the question on whom to bestow the crown was therefore long debated amongst the princes, higher nobility, and bishops.
They finally resolved to call a solemn assembly of the people, and there to let the public opinion of the nation decide upon Henry’s successor. It is possible that the persons who were secretly managing this business of the election had already a definite plan as to who was to be king; but such a plan might nevertheless present difficulties in the accomplishment, and for this reason each party tried to use the expedient of a national assembly for the furtherance of its own particular object. But to all appearance the public opinion of the nation occupied the position of arbitrator between the various parties, and as such exercised a stronger influence upon the election than might have been expected in view of the condition of the empire at the time.
Of course, except for the bishops and clergy this national assembly was entirely composed of the greater and lesser nobles and their followers, for the towns had not yet arrived at such a height of prosperity as to claim direct participation in the affairs of the empire. And, equally of course, the subordinate bondman had no opinion to give, only the gentry being qualified to vote. Hence the lesser nobility as a body represented the public opinion of the nation, in contradistinction to the sovereign princes; and it was they who were permitted to wield so great an influence in state affairs in the matter of the solemn election to the throne after the death of Henry II.
A NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Henry’s death had taken place on the 13th of July, 1024, and on the 4th of September in the same year those qualified to vote amongst all the German races gathered together on the Rhine, between Mainz and Worms, in the neighbourhood of the old “Königstuhl” (a stone structure in the form of a chair, where the kings of Germany were proclaimed), to proceed with all solemnity to the election of a new head of the empire. The throng was considerable, and was distributed in accordance with the great duchies of the empire; the Lorrainers taking up their quarters on the left bank of the Rhine, the Saxons, Franconians, Swabians, and Bavarians on the right. The princes and bishops naturally took the lead in the election ceremonies, and they therefore met at Kamba, opposite Oppenheim. There they conferred concerning the candidates for royalty who should be proposed to the people—that is to say, to the aforesaid body of the minor nobility. The opinions they expressed always came to the knowledge of the popular assembly, so that the latter could exercise at least a moral influence upon the principal electors by applause or dissent. The conference lasted long, its fluctuations of opinion communicated a certain amount of agitation to the great throng, the minds of men were kept in suspense, and the solemn election became a scene of great animation. At length the diversities of opinion resolved themselves into an agreement that two men were worthiest to wear the crown, both of them Franconian nobles, both bearing the name of Conrad, and both being the sons of two brothers—grandsons of the famous Conrad the Red, son-in-law of Otto I. In order to distinguish between the two, one was styled the Elder and the other the Younger.
The election hung undecided between them for some time longer, till the elder Conrad, calculating the effect such a step would have upon the people, approached the younger with an amicable proposal that each of them should do his best to prevent a quarrel over the election; and to that end they should both undertake to yield sincere allegiance to whichever should be nominated by a majority of the princes with the assent of the people. When the younger Conrad had agreed to this, the archbishop of Mainz solemnly proposed the elder Conrad as head of the empire, setting forth his superior claims in a brief oration. The proposition was strongly supported by a majority of the bishops, and secured the assent of many of the princes; and when the empress Kunigunde, the widow of Henry II, handed over the insignia of royalty with all speed to Conrad the Elder, the assembly hailed him king of the Germans, and the election was ratified by the solemn plaudits of the nation. Conrad the Younger himself had given his vote for his cousin when he saw the way the election was tending, and a quarrel was thus avoided. The duke of Lorraine and the archbishop of Cologne both expressed their dissatisfaction at the result of the election, but no more serious consequences ensued; and Conrad the Elder was recognised by all parties as king of the Germans, the second of that name. This circumstance conduced greatly to the furtherance of the national interests of Germany, as did the result of the election itself; for the new king was a man well fitted to impart fresh strength and consequence to the empire.
Conrad II, it is true, was not animated by the noble spirit which leads through pure patriotism to a self-denying devotion to public affairs; on the contrary, he zealously pursued his own selfish ends, and was often led astray by motives of mere self-interest. Nevertheless, as it happened, his wishes coincided with the interests of the nation; for he strove to enhance the power of his own house, and seeking to attain this end by establishing a hereditary monarchy, he bent all his endeavours to increasing the imperial authority and, as a natural consequence, cementing national unity. Nor was he deficient in the qualities required for at least approximate success in his schemes, though we miss in him the nobler endowments for success, which advance openly to gain the object they have in view, by the help of genius, force of character, and inflexible will. But in place of these qualities he possessed a political sagacity so keen and subtle that he could carry through the most difficult schemes by covert measures. With this sagacity he combined energy, courage, and skill in arms. Indeed for the greater part of his life he had been engaged in military pursuits, but he nevertheless was possessed of so remarkable an aptitude for politics, that, being as clear-headed as he was adroit, he directed the affairs of the state with altogether exceptional skill.
CONRAD II INCREASES HIS POWER
In the year 1024 a gifted and vigorous king had at length been elected; to such a man a thorough reform of political conditions would certainly appear an imperative necessity in view of the condition to which the empire had been reduced. Conrad II had first to try to increase the property of the crown before he could venture upon a struggle against the usurpations of the nobles. This was not to be effected either easily or speedily, and he therefore endeavoured in the first place to gain time for confirming his power by friendly behaviour towards the great nobles. For this reason, after his consort Gisela had also been crowned at Cologne, he determined to begin by making a progress through Germany, for the double purpose of securing general recognition and investigating the condition of the crown lands of the head of the empire. He first went to Aachen, where an assembly of the nobles of Lorraine had been convened. The king’s most formidable enemies were the seigneurs of the higher nobility; and in order to counterbalance them Conrad was obliged to rely on the middle classes, represented at this time by the lesser nobles, the commons not having yet attained a sufficient degree of power.